Hardware To Speed Up DAW Workflow

Touch Innovations has announced availability of Kontrol Master, which they describe as a touch technology-driven desktop design that speeds up workflow with enhanced ergonomic control of unlimited DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) virtual faders and knobs (or, indeed, any other creative software). Here's the details in their own words...

Kontrol Master provides a revolutionary and unique experience, effectively and effortlessly integrating its user's second hand into the musical mix using a high-precision, highly-responsive knob to control virtual knobs, faders, and more. Music production workflow works like never before by simply hovering the mouse pointer over the object to be controlled and immediately start using that knob for that tactile feel that us humans know and love.

Who better to make the formal introductions than Touch Innovations COO Cody Myer: "Using this controller gives you such a fluid, comfortable response, but, more than that, you get precision. Whereas, you can overshoot and undershoot using your mouse and keyboard, which can be frustrating. So adding a hover-dynamic experience -- to simply be able to go over any of the key elements, move along, and edit on the fly is a really handy tool. Not only that, it's capacitive, so you can touch. On the knob you're touching things to control, so you've got full vertical, rotary, and horizontal control throughout any software -- whether it's Windows, Mac... even Linux. On top of that, all the buttons are preprogrammed. We have custom layouts for Reason, Ableton, Logic, and more. You can also customise it and save those settings, so you have your own defaults when you start. Cooler still the transport windows let you use multiple monitors... simply tap the buttons and -- from the same position that you're already at on your screen -- this will instantly take you to your secondary monitor, without having to keep searching for your mouse, so you can do what you need to do."

Doesn't come cooler than that, surely! So how and why, exactly, does Kontrol Master do what it does so well while other controllers have fallen flat? For starters, it is USB (Universal Serial Bus) powered; plug it into your computer, customise the unit using the KM software, and use it immediately. The single knob provides accurate control of different objects in various software interfaces. Pressing one of the three white buttons allows that knob to control vertical, rotary, and horizontal objects. The two orange buttons let users instantly surf across multiple monitors. These and all other buttons make it possible to fire a combination of up to 24 different kinds of actions, like keystrokes, shortcut keys, and MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) events. Essentially a plug-and-play device, Kontrol Master makes more time to focus on projects while reducing the strain of countless hours that would otherwise be spent editing -- time that could be better spent producing and mixing music, videos, or graphic works of art.

All told, then, it should come as little surprise to learn that Kontrol Master made the grade at The 2017 NAMM Show, January 19-22 in Anaheim, California by becoming a BEST OF NAMM 2017 WINNER in the hotly-contested CONTROLLERS/SEQUENCERS category, as awarded by MusicRadar, "The No. 1 Website For Musicians." Many more musical minds were blown along the way, with Ask.Audio actively ranking it amongst its "11 Top Synths, Sequencers & Controllers From NAMM 2017" (to namecheck more media movers and shakers).

Saying that, actions (almost) always speak louder than words, but -- closer to home -- Touch Innovations' conclusions are clear: combining Kontrol Master with editing software favourites transforms workflow from standard keyboard and mouse combo control to a fluid and precisely accurate experience. It is the -- now no longer missing -- link between human and computer that perfectly balances virtual parameter control with creative expression. Music, video, and graphics editors alike will find Kontrol Master to be a powerful intuitive instrument that directly links inspiration to all editing software. So why not add it to your setup today? Truth be told, you won't know how you once worked without it...